Nepenthe
Julianna Barwick\'s 2011 album *The Magic Place* earned a lot of attention for its use of massed vocal overdubs in the service of ambient sound paintings. It\'s a sign of the Southern-bred artist\'s depth and staying power that she figured how to effectively follow up that record without turning her gift into a gimmick or entirely abandoning her established approach. *Nepenthe* is no drastic detour from *The Magic Place*—it employs lush, pillowy clouds of multiple Julianna Barwicks to equally ambient effect. But the album also finds Barwick working in new, more collaborative circumstances. Recorded in Reykjavik, *Nepenthe* matches Barwick with a batch of kindred Icelandic spirits, including Birgir Jón Birgisson of Sigur Rós, Robert Sturla Reynisson of múm on guitar, the string ensemble Amiina, and a choir of Icelandic girls. All of these accompanists remain on the \"sympathetic support\" side of things, leaving Barwick plenty of elbow room to work her vocal magic—but their subtle contributions help define the album as a creature all its own.
Julianna Barwick's art is equal parts force and beauty. Her music finds its motor in significant events in her own life, but they are abstracted into a sense of sonic wonderment, a radiance that you could say is her signature sound. That radiance has been taken to new zeniths with 'Nepenthe', her third full-length album, which was recorded in Reykjavík, Iceland, in the dark cold days of February. "Everything I was making was visceral – the record represents some serious emotional stuff," she confirms, while at the same time she raves with enormous positivity about the unique recording environment. Alex Somers (musician/producer of Sigur Rós, Jónsi, Jónsi & Alex) invited her to Iceland in the first place. For Julianna, who was blown away at a Sigur Rós show in 2002, it was a dream come true. "That was the fastest email I ever wrote: “Yes!” Who would say no to that?" Somers produced and engineered the record and brought in local Icelandic musicians who turned out to make crucial contributions: string ensemble Amiina, guitarist Róbert Sturla Reynisson from Múm, and a choir of teenage girls. Perhaps as a result, 'Nepenthe' is intimate without being introspective. Instead it’s a radiant array of light-dappled choral works, drawing a powerful sense of hope from the depths of despair. The extra musicians have rounded out her sound, emphasizing the yearning mood, the reaching towards the light. Check the teenage choir's ecstatic crooning on "Forever," or Amiina’s shimmering sound clouds on the glorious second track, "The Harbinger." "Offing" and "One Half" are the perfect showcase for her seamlessly layered vocals, which circulate and settle upon one another like sheets of gauze on the breeze. Far from the secondhand emotions and digital dabblings of so many other artists, Julianna Barwick's music is the real deal: a life-affirming work of importance, interest… and sheer beauty.
Over the course of her career, Juliana Barwick has perfected a very particular form of ethereal vocal ambience. For her new album, she recorded in Iceland with Sigur Rós collaborator Alex Somers, members of múm, and the string quartet Amiina, resulting in her most emotionally complex work yet.
A grandiose collation of introverted vocal loops and stunning layered production which serves as confirmation of Barwick's incredible singular talents.
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Nepenthe was an antiquated potion of forgetfulness (literally, “anti-sorrow”), and this second album from ethereal songstress Julianna Barwick is similarly intoxicating. Awash with swells of warm synths and vocals so layered they often lose their human shape, the record is at times so homogenously fluid it almost feels like one singular journey.
Julianna Barwick's breakthrough record The Magic Place saw the Brooklyn singer find her, ahem, voice, as a creator of ambient, ethereal choral works-layering vocals to the extent that they become lost in the ether, finding an otherworldliness fit for reli
Clash reviews 'Nepenthe', the third album (and first for Dead Oceans) from Brooklyn artist Julianna Barwick
[xrr rating=4.25/5]Julianna Barwick is predominantly a vocal-centric artist, using looped choruses of her own layered voice as a foundation to construct wordless, naturalistic emotional landscapes, which build and blossom over two to six minute tracks.
Julianna Barwick must feel like she’s living one of her dreams right now. She recently cancelled a string of solo shows so she could accompany and open up for Sigur Rós, a band she’s always had a great love for. She recalls in an interview the first time she saw them live: “[It was] one
In the video made to accompany “One Half”, Julianna Barwick meets her inner goddess in a deserted multi-storey car park. When she closes her eyes, everything that is ordinary melts away and is replaced by a landscape that is as colourful as the previous scene is monochrome.